The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) is a trade union that is suppposed to represent about 120,000 employees in the broader public service of the Province of Ontario, Canada. The current president of OPSEU is Warren "Smokey" Thomas. Prior to Thomas OPSEU was headed by Leah Casselman. Casselman was the President of OPSEU for 11 years and was re-elected five times. She saw the union through the most eventful time in its history. She resigned December 19, 2006.

Contents

Unlike most unions, OPSEU members have personal carriage rights over their grievance(s). In most unions, once a grievance is filed the union takes carriage of the grievance at the corporate level. For OPSEU members, this means that the individual member, or group of members, who filed the grievance(s) have the right to make all decisions with regard to settlement, withdrawal and the decision whether or not to proceed with litigation. This can potentially be costly to the union as the grievor may refuse to settle or withdraw a frivolous or groundless grievance. However, mediatedarbitration is often used as a cost-effective method for determining a grievance's potential before a settlement board if the grievor chooses not to settle at that stage. The grievor's union representative will then counsel the grievor on the best course of action. Often if it appears that a grievance could be lost with prejudice (i.e., the settlement could negatively impact future, similar grievances by setting precedent) then the representative may recommend that the grievor tactically withdraw it at that stage.

In 1993, Ontario's first NDP government altered the legislation governing Ontario Public Service employees to allow them to strike. In 1996, Ontario Public Service employees struck legally (Correctional Officers struck illegally in 1979[3]) for the first time in their history.[4] The strike was deeply political; OPSEU rallied against the Mike Harris government's proposed job cuts. The tension between the Government and OPSEU culminated on March 18, 1996 in a confrontation between the OPP and OPSEU strikers at Queen's Park in Toronto. Ontario Provincial Police riot control officers were called in to escort members of parliament who were being prevented from entering the legislature. MPPs were pelted with rocks and paper cups when they tried to cross the line. The confrontation escalated when police began to push through the line of protesters and violence erupted. At least half a dozen protesters were injured. [5]

The Harris government faced strong criticism for calling in the OPP to control the protesters[citation needed], and although the Harris government initially resisted, an inquiry was launched into the actions of the OPP officers[citation needed]. The strike lasted five weeks.

Tensions between the union and management remained strong after the strike[citation needed].

The second strike between OPSEU and the provincial government lasted 54 days (March 13 to May 5) in 2002. Again, tensions between managers and the union were strong. Although there was no bloody confrontation between the union and the government during this strike, there was a strong division between union members and management.